Kids’ Closet Organization

So did everyone see the Charger/Packer game today? Man! We had a fighting chance at the end and blew it. Such a bummer. And I had my Christmas list all typed and ready to present to Kenny! Guess I’ll have to hold onto it a little longer. Like until the Chargers WIN. Timing is everything, remember? :)

You may also remember a while ago that I mentioned we decided to rent a storage shed. Our house hunt continues, but in the meantime we are running out of space in our current house so renting a storage shed is our temporary solution until we find “the one.” Ellie currently sleeps in our guest room but the closet in the guest room was a catch all for random extras. Things we weren’t using, but didn’t want to get rid of.

The right side of the guest room closet held old Halloween costumes, coats, and old prom dresses and dance team outfits from High School. My high school memories are so dear to me and I just can’t seem to part with this stuff!

The left side of the closet held other random items. “Organized clutter” is what I called this closet and it always bugged me. It looked messy and I knew we weren’t maximizing the space. Meanwhile, the closet the girls were sharing in Addie’s room was bursting at the seams and there was no place for the girls’ small toys. (Kole has completely taken over the playroom and the girls have too many little toys/accessories that he can choke on.) Clearly a closet make-over was in order! (Do you hear my squeals of joy at the thought!?) :)

First step was to empty out the closet completely.

Then I boxed A LOT of stuff up for the storage shed.

Next I moved all of Ellie’s clothes into this room and started sorting and organizing them.

Then when the girls were in school I threw away half of organized their toys.

Then my favorite part. Creating a place for everything!

So are you ready for the “after” pictures?

Ellie’s closet on the right:

Ellie’s closet on the left:

A big improvement!! Aside from the fact that it looks so much better (and seriously makes me giddy every time I put something away in it) this closet is completely functional and a perfect set-up for my girls’ toys. I used every possible ounce of space plus it’s so easy for them to put things away and keep everything organized. I triple exclamation mark LOVE it!!!

A place for everything and everything in its place. And suddenly all is right in the world.

Or at least in the closet. :)

I found these simple labels at Michael’s (I think they’re for wedding invites?) to organize all of the girls small toys. I wanted something simple I could just write on and change out when necessary.

Top of the closet organizer holds Addison’s nebulizer and meds. Then I just organized the toys and gave everything a happy home! I found these fun clear containers with aqua lids at Home Depot of all places. They were so cheap – just a couple of dollars each. I stocked up and walked out of the door hauling a huge stack of these organizers on one hip and Kole on the other (who was doing his best to squirm out of my arms of course). Good thing he didn’t because if we were going down I would have saved the organizers! ;)

Break down of the toys:

My girls have LOVED having their toys so organized and accessible AND away from Kole! They can pull out a box or two and make a big mess and then clean up is a cinch. The best part is that I don’t have to deal with “mom! where is Tinkerbell’s purse!?” (A purse that is smaller than a penny) We now know that if we still have it around, it’s in “doll accessories” — of course!

The right side of her closet has short sleeved shirts on the bottom rack and bigger toys to the left in storage containers from The Container Store which used to be on the floor in Addison’s closet.

Because everyone needs a designated place for their fancy shoes.

Dresses hang in the middle.

And long sleeved shirts are on the top. There is also an additional top shelf that I used for larger toys/blocks.

Comments

wow Erin what a difference you must feel so good now that is done. I reorganised my wardrobe yesterday and i cant help but keep walking past and peeking in. Good jobs now u need to give us an update of Addies wardrobe, Oh have to tell u unsure if u remember me replying to a post a few weeks back that my mum was in san diego, well i am super excited as i think she got me those gorgeous spice jars from anthro like yours. woohoo.now for her to hurry up in Hawii and get back to oz for me. lol

This looks great! You are lucky to have such a nice closet to work with. We recently moved into a new house and I am going to install systems in all the closets and I like this half shelves, half hanging system for my kids as well.

Erine- I love when you post your organizing ventures,,so fun! You know what I mean when I say that…LOL! Just pure fun. Can I ask where you got the clean snap containers, I think my teeange DD would love them-she is an organizer too…ha! Thanks and I love these posts- keep them going!

I can’t believe how wonderful this turned out. I love reading organization posts, but this one is one of the best. I love the bins and labels so much! You really did a fantastic job, lady!Love it!xoxoKerri at HollyMuffin

Hi Erin! I’m with Shari….quite giddy over those aqua-lidded boxes :) Will have to check my Home Depot. I wish I loved to organize the way you do! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE when everything is organized (I would keep going back to admire that gorgeously clean closet if it were mine), I just hate the process (or perhaps it’s more the thought of getting started on the process?) of making it to the end point. Several closets & cupboards are needing some attention in my house though (especially before Christmas hits!) so thank you for the inspiration at least :) Have a happy day! x

Oh, I saw a container with those tiny little Disney princesses and all their accessories. My oldest has those and they drive me crazy! But she loves them, so we try our hardest to make sure those tiny little shoes and purses don’t get lost…or eaten by her little 8 month old sister. The closet looks great!

Loving the before and after pictures! You are awesome! You must feel pretty great … I went through the (small mountain) stack of paperwork on our desk this weekend … almost EVERYTHING could be thrown away or shredded … feels awesome looking at that clean(ish) desk! :) Happy Monday!!

So the room sharing days are definitely over huh?! The closets look fantastic, of course. I do love an organized closet! In all the mess and chaos and unorganized madness that is my house, I am always proud that the one thing that actually STAYS organized is my kids toys and their closets! Oh and totally keep the old prom dresses and dance outfits! Some things are worth keeping. Plus they will make great costumes when your girls can fit into them! :)

And just so you know how much I love you, I thought of you when I was cleaning (not organizing, just cleaning..they are different you know) my garage this morning and I found all these boxes of screws.

I smiled as I set those boxes on the work bench, all in a nice, neat pile and thought to myself…

there is no way in **** I am ever going to organize these screws into little labeled drawers….like someone I know….

My hubby & I have been talking about getting rid of stuff(organizing)in my daughter’s room/closet. But we’re trying to figure out how to get her out of the house to do it. She doesn’t seem ready to sleep over my parents house yet. I asked her & she said only if 1 of us sleeps over with her. Looks great. I’m going to show this post to my hubby.

I have been busy organizing all my closets in my house too. Such a great feeling! AND the Packers beat the Chargers! Even better since I live 30 min from Green Bay! I love your blog. You inspire me and your newborn baby letter helped me these past few months too. My blog is http://lifestorieswithamy.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much everyone! Love hearing from people who get as excited about organizing as I do! As well as hearing from people who at least humor me. :)

Janet – the clear organizers were from Home Depot. A random place to find them, right!?

Mason – my camera is a Canon Rebel XSI (I think the newer model is the Canon Rebel 2TI or something like that. I don’t have much to tell in the way of photography background! I took a class when I first bought my camera, but I didn’t learn much and felt confused most of the time. Everything I know I’ve just learned from playing around with camera settings and taking LOTS of pictures. :)

Anonymous – I have seen great organizers and clear containers similar to mine at the dollar store for only a buck each! Another suggestion if you don’t want to spend anything is to start saving shoe boxes. You can cover them in wrapping paper or scrapbook paper, stick a label on them and you have instant organizers that look cute too! :)

I am constantly working on toy/closet organization…all I can say is 3 kids, 1200 sq ft house! This looks great and I love how you organized the toys. Thanks for showing what is in each box…I am always challenged when it comes to figuring out how to categorize things. And then what to do when there are huge parts and little parts. Still trying to figure out how to organize/store Playmobil… ;)

Oh my gosh,I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE what you did with the closet! I was thinking the other day that my kid’s closets have a lot of wasted space. What you have done is an organizational masterpiece! I’m wondering where you got the closet system. It would be perfect for my 6 yr old daughter’s stuff. I’m so excited to do a closet redo for each of my kids!

I just found your blog today and LOVE it! Thanks for sharing your organizing projects. It’s always so fun to see different ways of doing things, especially simpler ones. P.S. I’m a huge Packers fan, but we can still be friends ;-)

The difference can be clearly seen! I enjoyed looking at the photos of such an organized closet! Your daughter will surely learn from this. Working for a closets Bergen company, it sure makes me glad to see neat and inspiring closet make-overs shared for other home owners to learn from. Good job!

Make a separate shelf for books and stationary. It is very important to keep your kid’s habit in your mind as you buy closet for their room because if your kids plays basketball or cricket then you should make it a point to choose the closet where your kid can keep his basketball equipment easily.

I have three-year-old daughter and I am trying to teach her how to clean and keep tidy her closet. For that moment, she understands what I tell her very well. I hope that she will learn how to keep tidy.

Welcome to Sunny Side Up where I share my obsession with organization and my love for home design and decor. My husband and I just finished building a house and I can't wait to put my spin on the place and share it all with you. I have three little ones and love everything about motherhood. Except the cooking. I've never enjoyed the cooking. :) Like the city we live in, things are generally pretty sunny around here. Thanks for stopping by!